Anne Arundel schools seeks to reduce student suicides

Anne Arundel County school officials are trying to reverse the trend of suicides among their students.

Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among the nation's 15- to 24-year-olds. It's also the third-leading cause of death of 10- to 14-year-olds as well.

It's an issue educators said is not talked about often enough at home and at school, where teenagers are crying out for help. For the school communities, suicide, and the issues that drive this dangerous behavior, is very much a part of the day-to-day conversation.

Anne Arundel County is trying to get the word out to students and parents on how to recognize the early signs to prevent suicide.

"If a student should say things like, 'My life is not worth living anymore,' or 'People would be better off if I weren't here,' those are signs that do require us to pursue that further," said Nick Silvestri, of Anne Arundel County schools.

Mental health experts said the concerns are connected to relationship issues, family problems, substance abuse and bullying.

The school system and suicide prevention groups are turning to local restaurants next week to help raise money to continue training thousands of volunteers, many of them outside of the school building.

"We have a lot of kids that work here between the ages of 16 and 25 years old, and especially the teenagers are very impressionable nowadays. You have a lot of kids that have no parents or guidance at home," said Pasquale Carannante, of Bella Napoli Restaurant.

"We have families who face this loss, and there's a lot of shame and stigma, and so they don't often want to talk about what has happened in their families or with their friends, and we know that's a part of the challenge," said Alli Hostrum, of the Partnership for Children, Youth and Families.